PGA Tour golfers’ ardent college football fandom on display

Not having a better season. I mean, the guy won two national titles in three years. The playoff streak and the ACC streak, it’s unbelievable. I talked to a really good buddy of mine who was nonprofit director at the Steadman Hawkins sporting complex, where Dabo was the wide receivers coach (here in the upstate of South Carolina) when I was playing there, and he thinks the world of him. It was enough for me. Everybody’s got their opinion. If you say you wanna fire Dabo, then you’re an idiot.”

Regardless of teams or allegiances, players such as Kisner, Glover and Snedeker agree the time spent and knowledge gained on the message boards make them more popular at tournament sites. Fans and volunteers want to talk to them, and, perhaps more importantly for some, bettors come looking for insight and intangibles that might not be available to ken salves or a computer algorithm.”I can go to the volunteer tent at any stop and they say, ‘Good round today.’ I can go to my locker and the locker room attendant might say, ‘Did you see that game?'” Kisner said. “I can sit at the range and the fans or other players will ask me about sporting events. I get thanked for my time, for sticking around, talking about college football.”When people ask, it’s good to have an opinion. There’s not a situation where you tell a 60-year-old volunteer, who’s a Florida fan, that he’s an idiot. You just listen and discuss,” Kisner said. “Obviously there’s good and bad with voicing personal opinions. It helps me gain fan popularity. It definitely helps with mingling and being around.”Snedeker said the unpredictability of college football — and playing golf — allows players to be grounded and feel more like regular folks than multi-millionaires who play for large sums of money. Sports talk brings them closer to the spectators and the fans who love to watch them.”It makes a connection with the fans,” Snedeker said. “I think that’s the fun thing about being an athlete, whether it’s college football or being on the PGA Tour. You go out there and perform, and people say, ‘Okay, well, he’s just a guy.’ And he likes the same thing I do.”The fact that we like college football and tailgating, there’s a little fun to it. It takes us back to our roots and college where we were normal guys and spending our time tailgating and being crazy and rambunctious. Now we’re 40 years old and we still like to be college kids.””I think that’s the big thing about the Tour, we’re all pretty normal guys. We do things so we can relate to the fans,” Snedeker said. “That’s why people enjoy hanging out with us in the Pro-Ams and why they like hanging out with us when they come to the tournament. It’s kinda fun to be out there, just being ourselves and talking trash about college football.”

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Daniel Miller

Daniel Miller takes readers to the greens with his passion for golf. He offers coverage of major golf tournaments, player achievements, and insights into the sport’s rich history, making him a trusted source for golf enthusiasts.